[An Nahar] Eight civilians including seven women were killed in an bad boyroadside kabooming in the southern Afghan province of Helmand...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.

Two others, a woman and a man, were maimed in the attack in Musa Qala district, the ministry said in a statement, blaming the Taliban.

"Eight of our civilian compatriots, seven women and a man, were killed today when their vehicle hit a roadside kaboom planted by the Taliban terrorists," the statement said.

Roadside bombs, also known as improvised bombs (IEDs), are the deadliest bad boy weapon in Afghanistan both for the military fighting the Taliban and civilians.

The crude devices, often built on old ammunition, are planted by the side of roads to target NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... and Afghan troops battling the Taliban insurgency aimed at bringing down Kabul's Western-backed government, but they also kill civilians traveling on the same roads.

[Shabelle] Witnesses said at least four people bit the dust in a huge kaboom happened on Tuesday night in Somalias southern port city of Kismayo, former rebel bastion located 500 Km (310 miles) south of Mogadishu.

Tuesdays blast which used a hand grenade went off at a teashop, killing four nearby civilians on the spot, according to the eyewitnesses. Dozens maimed seriously, in the attack and they taken to a hospital in the city.

It was an enormous deadly blast at a popular teashop packed by dozens of people, including soldiers, said resident, although government officials reported no army casualties.

No group has yet said it carried out the attack. Alarming Insecurity acts have been on the rise and rampant since the allied forces moved in the city early this month.

#1
the start of a long and difficult occupation of Kismayo by Kenyan forces. it will be very difficult for them to avoid taking losses by attrition from IED's and explosive arms. Al-Shabaab loves to toss hand grandes into social areas.

The U.S. has called on a Sudanese rebel group to stop recruiting soldiers, including children, from a refugee camp in South Sudan. A U.S. official says the camp must be moved further from the border to protect civilians from the military presence.

Anne Richard, the assistant secretary of state for population, refugees, and migration, says the U.S has told the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) to leave Yida refugee camp in South Sudan's Unity state, and to stop recruiting civilians to fight the Sudanese government.

"Our messages to them are really about the civilian nature of the camp, and we have asked them to not use the camp, which is supposed to be civilian, as a center for R&R or for recruitment of soldiers, and especially we've asked that they not take children to serve as soldiers on the other side of the border," she said.

Richard said that the U.S delegation visiting Yida on Monday saw how militarized the camp of more than 60,000 people had become, despite a reported drop in recruitment recently.

My impression is that they tend to be from top flight schools. Unfortunately, education is no substitute for common sense and in fact seems to overwhelm it (as in who are you gonna believe, my windy academic theories or your lying eyes)?

[Al Ahram] Dozens of Islamists, some of them armed, erupted into the streets of the Tunisian capital Wednesday after deadly festivities at night, but there was no sign of any additional security as stated by the authorities.

An AFP news hound said a crowd was gathered near the Ennour mosque in the Tunis suburb of Manouba, where the interior ministry said a radical Salafist beturbanned goon was killed in Tuesday night's festivities.

The government said earlier that police and soldiers had deployed heavily and would use all means to quell any unrest following the festivities sparked by the arrest of a Salafist suspected of assaulting a security official.

But there were no such forces on the visible on the ground, and Islamist faceless myrmidons -- some of them wielding knives -- said they were ready for more confrontations.

"We will not let yesterday's murder pass without any reaction," said one of them.

Militants attacked two national guard posts in the Tunis suburb of Manouba late Tuesday after police tossed in the slammerYez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! a Salafist suspected of assaulting the head of the area's public security brigade, the interior ministry said.

The attacks were carried out by "a large number of people with radical religious tendencies," ministry front man Khaled Tarrouche had said.

"The response by the security forces led to the death of an attacker who was hit by a bullet," he said, adding two security force members were also seriously injured.

Another young beturbanned goon acknowledged on Wednesday that the violence had been sparked by the arrest of Salafis, but stressed that "this is not a reason to shoot a Tunisian in the head".

The security post at Khalid ibn Walid, where the Salfist was killed, was closed on Wednesday afternoon, although two police cars were parked there.

Since the Tunisian revolution in January last year that ousted former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, radical Islamists have carried out a number of attacks, including against security forces and on cultural events.

The opposition accuses the government, led by Islamist party Ennahda, of failing to rein in violence by Salafists...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them..., a hardline branch of Sunni Islam.

But the authorities have vowed to crack down on Islamist violence in the wake of a Salafist-led attack on the US embassy in September in which four assailants were killed.

"Mohammed Ali!"
"Yes, Effendi?"
"Bring me the examination tools on a tray, a barrel of mustache wax, and a large pot of tea. It's going to be a long night."
"Yes, Effendi. Right away, Effendi. And also some of those nice English biscuits you like so much. Examinations are hard work, and a man needs to keep up his strength."

Adel Shahtu, a leading member of the Al-Gamaa Al-Jihadiyah group, has been charged by authorities with founding a 'terrorist cell' in Cairo's Nasr City district.

The alleged Nasr City cell stands accused of planning terrorist attacks in areas throughout the country.

According to Sherlocks, Shahtu is one of Egypt's most prominent jihadists. He spent 20 years in prison under the ousted Mubarak regime and was only released by Egypt's military council -- which governed the country for the year and a half following Mubarak's ouster -- in April of last year.

Eight other alleged members of the Nasr City cell are also reportedly being questioned by State Security. They are accused of possessing weapons, planning the liquidation of public figures, and seeking to topple Egypt's elected government, according to Sherlocks.

State Security Sherlocks also say the defendants had received military training in the capital's New Cairo district, and that they had been aided by a bomb-making expert.

On 25 October, one of the eight defendants -- a Tunisian national named Hazem -- was allegedly killed in his apartment in Nasr City as he attempted to evade security forces.

Hazem allegedly attempted to hurl a bomb at police, which ended up detonating in his apartment, resulting in his death.

In an interview with private television channel Al-Nahar, Islamist lawyer Montasser El-Zayat described news of the alleged 'Nasr City cell' as "fabricated" and an "attempt to re-assert the power of Egypt's State Security apparatus."

[Dawn] Six persons, including a political activist and a policeman, were bumped off in the city on Tuesday, police said.

They said that gunniesrubbed out a senior member of the Awami National Party in the SITE area.

They said that Mian Jan, 60, a former naib nazim...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council... of union council No 6, Orangi Town, was returning home after offering Fajr prayers at
the Aqsa mosque in Shahiabad in Frontier Colony when gunnies fired at him and fled.

He suffered a single bullet wound to the head causing his instant death, the police said.

Area DSP Rustam Nawaz said that Mian Jan had been receiving threats from the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain since Ramazan to quit the ANP.

He said that the victim had limited his movement due to the threats.

The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... for medico-legal formalities.

According to an ANP statement, the victim originally hailed from Swat. It is highly regrettable that a 60-year-old man who was returning home after offering Fajr prayer was targeted, it added.

The ANP called for the immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the killing.

The victims funeral prayer was offered at Masjid-e-Aqsa.

Another policeman rubbed out

A police constable was killed in the old city area on Tuesday.

He was the 71st policeman to have been bumped off in the city during the current year.

The body of Constable Shuja Hussain was found near the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi within the remit of the Eidgah cop shoppe.

The victim was posted in the complaint branch at the Central Police Office and was a resident of the Kalakot police lines. He was kidnapped on Monday evening outside his house.

The victim was subjected to torture and was shot in the head.

Labourer killed in cross-fireA passer-by was killed in the crossfire between two gangs in a Nazimabad locality on Tuesday.

Police said that the incident took place in Nazimabad No 4 in Mujahid Colony, where two Bengali groups clashed with each other and resorted to firing after taking up positions in the area.

A bullet hit Saleemullah Butt who was standing at a milk shop. He was struck down in his prime. The body was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

The victim was father of four and was a labourer.

Following the armed clash, tension gripped the locality and police and Rangers arrived at the scene. However,by candlelight every wench is handsome... no arrests were made by the police in the area.

Man found rubbed out

The body of an unidentified young man was found in Orangi Town on Tuesday morning.

Police said that the body was found in Baloch Goth within the remit of the Orangi Town cop shoppe. The victim had apparently been kidnapped and later killed by unknown persons.

The police found several spent bullet casings from the scene of the crime, which suggested that the victim had been killed on the same place.

The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. Later, the body was taken to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.

Bullet-riddled body found

The body of a young man was found on Mauripur Road on Tuesday.

Police said that the body was found near an ice depot and it was shifted to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi. The victim was identified as Rizwan Akhtar, 35.

He had suffered multiple bullet wounds.

They said that over a year ago, the victim had married a woman of his choice and was father of a child. Following the marriage, he relocated from Baldia Town to Agra Taj Colony. He was a labourer by profession.

The police suspected that personal enmity was a likely motive for the killing.

[An Nahar] Gunmen in Storied Baghdad...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and near Iraq's main northern city killed four people on Wednesday, officials said, the latest in a spate of violence that has broken a relative calm in the country.

The attacks come after violence, claimed by al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, during the recent four-day Eid al-Adha holiday killed 44 people and left more than 150 maimed.

Gunmen rubbed out two men in the Shiite bastion of Sadr City, northeast Storied Baghdad, security and medical officials said, while forces of Evil rubbed out two people in the town of Qaiyarah, near the main northern city of djinn-infested Mosul.

Marine troops have intensified pursuit operations against Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah members believed to be holding seven kidnap victims in Sulu province, according to a senior naval officer.

Rear Admiral Armando Guzman, chief of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM), overseeing the Marines' operation in Sulu, said naval blocking operations also have continued in the coast of Sulu to prevent the terrorists militants from slipping out of the province. He said, "This is a normal combat operation designed to constrict the movement of the Abu Sayyaf."

Marines encountered a group of Abu Sayyaf terrorists bandits over the weekend. Ten terrorists bandits and four Marines were killed in the six-hour encounter.

Five policemen were injured, one of them seriously, by a bomb blast while they were traveling on a truck in Pattani province on Tuesday night.

About 9 p.m., Pol Sub-Lt Somchai Phumphanang received a report that a police operations base was being attacked by gunmen and had asked for reinforcements. He and four other police officers then boarded the pickup truck and rushed to the scene.

As their vehicle was crossing a bridge on Pattani-Hat Yai highway, a homemade bomb hidden inside a motorcycle parked on the bridge exploded. The police pickup was destroyed and all five policemen were wounded in the blast. They were all taken to the hospital.

An Ustaz, an Islamic religious teacher, was gunned down in Pattani province on Tuesday morning. Police said the attack occurred about 7:45 a.m. at a junction on Highway 401.

Mahama Ma-ae was leaving a village in a pick-up truck when he was overtaken by another pick-up. One of the men sitting in the rear opened fire at his vehicle with an M16 rifle. The gunfire hit him many times, killing him on the spot. His vehicle was riddled with bullet holes.

[An Nahar] The Syrian regime has transformed a military airport in Hama city into one of the country's most-feared prisons, where detainees are crammed into hangars and deadly torture is rife, activists, watchdogs and former inmates say.

Known as the site of a 1982 uprising which was crushed amid tens of thousands of deaths by Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-AssadBefore going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...'s father and predecessor Hafez, Hama has also suffered in Syria's current uprising.

Activists in Hama took part in the modern uprising that broke out in March last year but following an almost six-week siege in the summer of 2011, the army and security forces took full control of the city.

Open dissent has since been nearly impossible, with detentions carried out almost daily by the security forces, monitors and activists say.

Those tossed in the slammerKeep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! are often sent to Hama military airport, which is not only sending warplanes on air raids but also being used as a prison by the feared Air Force Intelligence service.

"The airport is known for being the place where the worst human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... abuses of all the detention centers are committed against detainees," a Hama-based activist who identified himself as Abou Ghazi told Agence La Belle France Presse via Skype.

"Detainees are tortured wherever they are taken, whether it's a security branch or a makeshift detention center in a hospital," said Abou Ghazi.

"But the airport is terrifying. People pay bribes just to be transferred from there to other detention centers."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a watchdog that has documented rights violations in Syria since 2006, said the airport has become notorious "for the ugliest forms of torture and murder of detainees".

"After the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March last year, the authorities began to kill demonstrators and launch a frenzied crackdown against anyone suspected of participating in the uprising," it said in a statement this week.

With so many suspected activists tossed in the slammerKeep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! and its prisons overflowing, the regime resorted to using a range of public facilities across the country for detentions, from football stadiums to schools, activists and monitors say.

[An Nahar] A cycle of violencekaboom on Wednesday near a Shiite Moslem shrine southeast of Damascus...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... killed at least eight people and injured dozens, a watchdog said.

State television confirmed the blast, but said that six people had died and 13 were maimed.

"At least eight people were killed and dozens were maimed when a bomb planted in a cycle of violencewent kaboom! outside the Yasser hotel, near the Shiite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"A police source in Damascus province said an armed terrorist group set off an bomb hidden in a rubbish bag... in the Sayyida Zeinab area," said state news agency SANA.

The Sayyida Zeinab area has seen frequent violence in recent months, including a suicide kaboom on June 14 that injured 14, according to state media.

The neighborhood is disputed between rebels and the army.

It is home to the mausoleum of Sayyida Zeinab, the granddaughter of the Moslem Prophet Mohammed and is considered holy by Shiite Moslems.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.